page_title: Chesham branch
section_title: Stations
hierarchical_section_title: Chesham branch / Construction and opening / Stations
caption_attribution_description: English: Chesham tube station garden, occupying part of the trackbed of the disused platform. Won an award in 1993. Former water tower in the background, signal box also visible
context_page_description: The Chesham branch is a single-track railway branch line in Buckinghamshire, England, owned and operated by the London Underground. It runs from a junction at Chalfont & Latimer station on the Metropolitan line for 3.89 miles northwest to Chesham. The line was built as part of Edward Watkin's scheme to turn his Metropolitan Railway into a direct rail route between London and Manchester, and it was envisaged initially that a station outside Chesham would be an intermediate stop on a through route running north to connect with the London and North Western Railway. Deteriorating relations between the MR and LNWR led to the MR instead expanding to the northwest via Aylesbury, and the scheme to connect with the LNWR was abandoned. By this time much of the land needed for the section of line as far as Chesham had been bought. As Chesham was at the time the only significant town near the MR's new route, it was decided to build the route only as far as Chesham, and to complete the connection with the LNWR at a future date if it proved desirable.
context_section_description: The station at Chalfont Road was built with almost all facilities on the up side (the London-bound platform). As Chalfont St Giles, the largest nearby settlement, was on the other side of the tracks, most passengers travelling to and from the station were obliged to take a lengthy detour from the single exit. A footpath across the tracks was added in 1925, but an approach road giving access to the station from the southern side of the railway line was not built until 1933. The station had three platforms; one platform in each direction on the London–Aylesbury line, and a bay platform alongside the up platform for trains to Chesham. A run-around loop was built to allow locomotives reversing in the bay platform always to be at the front of their trains. It was built outside the station, meaning locomotives reversing on the Chesham line were obliged to push their trains out of the station before performing the manoeuvre.
  The station was renamed "Chalfont & Latimer" in 1915, although station signage was inconsistent and on absorption by London Transport in 1933 its roundel signs read simply "Chalfont". Increased passenger numbers strained the station's minimal facilities, and it was eventually redeveloped with extended shelters and improved waiting rooms in 1927. The platforms were extended during the electrification works of 1957–60.
  The Metropolitan Railway Act 1885 had given Watkin permission to extend the line from Chesham to connect with the LNWR at Tring. Thus, although it was the terminus of the line, Chesham station was designed with a revival of the LNWR extension scheme in mind. The small station building was set to one side of the tracks to allow for a possible extension onwards. The station had a single platform, with a run-around loop and turntable alongside, together with a coaling station and water tank. The station was lit by gas light until 1925; the local gas works, which consumed around 5,000 tons of coal each year, threatened to withdraw their coal traffic from the line if the station were fitted with electric lighting. While Chalfont Road station initially served a sparsely populated rural area (the village of Little Chalfont had not yet grown around the station), Chesham station was busy, and at the time of its opening had a full staff of a stationmaster, two ticket inspectors, two clerks, two porters and two collectors.
  Chesham also had extensive goods facilities, particularly for coal; the goods yard was initially equipped with a mobile 5-ton crane, replaced by a fixed 8-ton crane between 1898–1900. The outward transport of watercress, a major local industry, also generated significant traffic. During the electrification of the line in 1957–60 the station was equipped with a bay platform for passenger trains, to allow it to accommodate both through services to and from Baker Street and the Chalfont & Latimer–Chesham shuttle simultaneously. This bay platform was closed on 29 November 1970 and is now a garden.
  The Metropolitan Railway's passenger coaches, dating from 1870 and designed for underground use within London, were not fitted with heating until 1895. Consequently, both stations were also equipped with equipment for heating footwarmers, which would be distributed to passengers during cold weather.
caption: The disused bay platform (left) and surviving original platform (right) at Chesham. The large brick structure is the former water tower from the days of steam operations.
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